He reveals some very
interesting history from the inside of the Canterbury-Rome unity push in the
70’s:

It was in the heady days of ARCIC 1. The Final
Report had been sent around the Provinces of the Anglican Communion. Most of
the responses were positive. It was expected to be officially endorsed at the
forthcoming Lambeth Conference. The Vatican response was expected imminently.
There was a feeling that something momentous was about to happen.

Prior to my appointment to Lambeth I had been
lecturer in Christian worship at Trinity College, Bristol. Shortly after my
arrival in the Ecumenical Affairs office, Christopher asked me to do some
preliminary thinking about a liturgical project. (As Christopher put it,
there’s no point in having a dog and barking yourself.) The project was what
liturgical form the restoration of communion between the Anglican Communion and
the Roman Catholic Church might take. That was a heady request for a junior
staff member! The most recent unity scheme around was the Covenant for Unity
based on the Ten Propositions. That had proposed a day of liturgical events
including the consecration of bishops. I remember working with that model and
envisaging a service where the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury might jointly
consecrate the first of a new generation of bishops whose Orders would be
recognised by both Churches.

We were that close! Or at least so it seemed to some
of those closely involved.

In retrospect that moment was a high water mark. The
tide has been going out ever since.

As some may remember, the
Vatican’s response not only did not come before the next Lambeth Conference as
hoped; it did not come until 1991.And not only the timing, but also its content was disappointing.

Even more disillusioning has
been the Church of England’s liberal drift since then.That leads Bishop Fenwick to make an
interesting hypothesis:

I want to suggest that the Vatican’s 1991 response
fits a pattern that has characterised ecumenical endeavour in the past half
century – namely that unity initiatives have been halted by the refusal of what
one might call the more conservative partner to act, and that as a result, the
other partner has felt itself free to move further away from the historic
Christian consensus.

I do not claim that what I am going to say has been
rigorously historically tested, nor am I able to do so here, but I think the
possibility of a pattern is worth considering.

And that pattern is simply that there seem to have
been several occasions when the more conservative partner in a dialogue, by
failing to take bold action, allowed the less conservative partner to move
further away from traditional faith and practice.

And he gives other examples
of this occurring, including failed efforts between Old Catholics and Eastern
Orthodox.

This pattern indeed merits
consideration.When jurisdictions
are in the midst of unity efforts, their focus is often on how would
merger/intercommunion affect us.And that is certainly important.But how it would affect the other party
and the whole church, the Body of Christ, should not be overlooked.And Fenwick does not let us ignore that,
often for the disappointed party, a “move further away from traditional faith
and practice” occurs after unity efforts fail.

Of course, in such cases we
do not know what would have happened if unity efforts succeed.For example, in the case of the Church
of England and Roman Catholics, would Rome had been importing more liberalism
to its harm? Would more Protestant-minded Anglicans feel pushed out of the
Church of England?I personally
suspect the failure of ARCIC did more harm that what might have happened if it
succeeded, and Fenwick seems to think that as well.But we do not know.And, yes, jurisdictions have to consider the stresses and pressures
greater organizational unity may cause.I sometimes wonder if the Anglican Church in North America, in its well
meaning haste to bring Anglicans together, has not given such issues enough
consideration.If not done right,
organizational unity can beget more disunity.

Nonetheless, Bishop Fenwick
well reminds us that the good of the other party should be considered.(And the bishops of the Reformed
Episcopal Church have done just that in joining and remaining in ACNA.)We should avoid causing sister churches
to stumble by turning them away without very good reason.

Care should also be taken
in missionary efforts where there are existing Anglican jurisdictions.Accordingly, Fenwick, in his
conclusion, let it be known he still has mixed feelings about the consecration
of orthodox bishops in the U. K. outside of existing jurisdictions.

Whether one agrees or
disagrees with Fenwick’s paper (I agree, at least for the most part.), it
contains most interesting insight not often presented.Read it all.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

At the Anglican Patrimony Conference this past week, Gavin Ashenden gave an excellent talk and paper on
the dangers the secularist state presents to the Church today, particularly as
it more and more imposes Cultural Marxism.I commend it to you particularly as I’ve also
noted the dangers of a revival of totalitarianism.

The conference remembering
the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Ramsey’s The Gospel and the Catholic Church held
at St. Stephen’s Oxford had a stellar line up.And I have been informed other papers from the conference
will be posted very soon.So you
may hear more.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Which reminds me of a young
man who has opened my eyes to how liturgical worship can be a very good fit for
autistic children.

A few years ago, when he
and his parents visited my church from out of town, the boy was clearly
fascinated by our traditional low church Anglican worship.So much so that he would not stay in
the pews but went up, stood right beside our rector and very closely watched
everything he did, especially as he consecrated the bread and wine.The boy was quiet and not at all
disruptive about it.And our
rector, who has a wonderful gentle heart, continued without interruption,
taking it all in stride as did everyone else.If anyone was uncomfortable, it was his parents, of course.

Recently he and his father
visited again.He had grown more
self-controlled and more sociable.But he still clearly loved liturgical worship.In fact, he was now regularly an acolyte at his home church,
and we let him acolyte during our Holy Communion service as the Crucifer.He proved a quick learner and performed
his duties very well.

Anyway, I am throwing this
experience out there.I am no
expert on autism (although I have worked with autistic people perhaps more than
most).But my understanding and
experience is that autistic people like a degree of order.So traditional liturgical worship might
be helpful in that regard as long as the priest and congregation takes any mild
disorder a child might cause in stride.I am certainly glad to have seen that first hand.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

With Oxford’s Trinity Term
just beginning, this seems a good time to announce what I have hinted at – God
willing, I am finally returning to England and to Oxford this Autumn.

As in 2011, I will an
independent student studying in 18th Century fashion if you
will.My focuses of study will
likely be English Church History and Dante.And this time, with a superior place to reside and armed
with Vitamin D, I hope to last the entire Michaelmas Term.And I will post of my experience here,
of course.

I also have planned briefer
stays in York, Cambridge and Windsor.

If you have suggestions for
what I should see and do (especially inside information on Oxford
opportunities.As I once heard at
Pusey House, “they don’t tell anyone what’s going on around here.”) or have
anything else helpful or would just like to meet me then, feel free to comment
on this or a subsequent post and leave a way to contact you if necessary.I moderate all comments, so – don’t
worry – I will not post anything of a private nature.People have gotten in touch with me privately via the
comments before.

I have chosen this time
because it will be the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1.So information on events and lectures
remembering that would also be appreciated.I will be staying in Oxford for Remembrance Sunday weekend.

And prayers would be
appreciated as well.The last time
I had a trip to England planned, my knee prevented it.

Monday, April 23, 2018

The Church of England has warned its
American sister church that it could be kicked out of the global Anglican
family if it forces priests to use a gay-friendly marriage ceremony that
relegates the importance of bearing children.

In a strongly worded eight-page letter, William Nye, the Church of England’s
secretary-general, told the Episcopal Church that it could face “stringent
consequences” if it replaced the marriage rites in its Book of Common Prayer
with a gender-neutral ceremony that removed all reference to procreation.

Stringent Consequences?!?
My, oh, my!Only one sugar cube
with their tea at Lambeth!That’ll show ‘em!

Pardon my snark, but
fifteen years of seeing the Church of England in inaction since that fateful
year of 2003 has made me slightly skeptical about any alleged will power of
that august institution when it comes to apostates.Warnings that once might have made one pause now just make
one laugh.

Which, on reflection, is
very sad.I remember when I and
other orthodox Anglicans actually had some hope that the Church of England
would help set the Anglican Communion aright….

Friday, April 20, 2018

The Venerable Fr. John
Hunwicke, like many, is bored beyond tears and then some by the subject of
Women’s Ordination.But with
rumblings of a push within the Church of Rome for WO, he has reluctantly but
colorfully provided the service of what may be in store as only he can.His observations from long experience
certainly apply to other jurisdictions that may have to deal with the
issue.Some highlights:

(3) …if you with strategic good sense start off
instead with deacons [as was the case in the Church of England and elsewhere],
you can get the laity used to seeing vested females buzzing around the
Sanctuary and having "The Reverend" attached to their names. And such
ladies will not be as divisive as women priests because the validity of no Sacrament
depends upon the diaconate. Then you can move on to women priests, starting off
by placing them carefully in churches where they will be 'pastorally
acceptable'. Only when you have successfully completed that phase
will you move in for the final kill. You see how the trick is worked. Rather
Bergoglian, really, in its 'gradualism'. But it is a fundamentally dishonest
trick. Crooks, the lot of them!

(4) It will be suggested that those opposing WO are people who "'have
problems" with female sexuality or just with women anyway. I remember
actually once being told that I must have a phobia of menstrual blood. Quite a
conversation-stopper ...

I can imagine it was.But Fr. Hunwicke advises to get used to
it:

In other words, if you choose to fight
this battle within the Catholic Church, you will need to be ready to have some
immensely vile personal attacks made upon you. Our opponents,
generally speaking, possess neither decency nor shame. Feminists of either sex
are rarely Gentlemen! You will need a very thick skin.

He said it.I didn’t. . . .But he could have gone further
actually. In addition to being bored to death, those who do not
recognize women’s ordination will be not only be vilified, but risk being
ghettoized.See the Philip North affair.

By his own admission, Fr.
Hunwicke’s post is practical, not theological.But it is the practical, namely seeing women’s ordination in
practice, that has turned me from a tolerant agnostic on the question into a
wary opponent.

Although the number of Catholics vocal about their
concerns with the pontificate of Pope Francis has grown in recent months, a
strange phenomenon nevertheless continues to assert itself: a kind of cognitive
dissonance in which the faithful seek to find any explanation, no matter how
far-fetched, to reassure themselves that what is happening can’t really be as
troubling as it seems.

And the same can be said
about many Anglicans.Yes, I
understand that important public figures can be misquoted.But again and again we have this
pattern:

1. Pope Francis says
something or is quoted to say something out of line with orthodoxy.

2. The Vatican issues a
denial/non-denial somewhat along the lines of the Pope didn’t mean what he
said.

3. Those who cannot deal
with the possibility of the Pope being a Jesuit heretic engage in their usual
denial and pour scorn on those open to said possibility.

Now I do not know if the
Pope is a heretic.But I sure as
Hell know there is something seriously wrong with the man.

Just how much is wrong with
the man I do not presume to know.I do know he is a Lib/Left Jesuit (But I repeat myself.) who should
never had been made Pope, and I am not about to engage in denial about it.

Skojec posits that the
influence of Peronism explains much about Francis.I am unsure of that.But it gives me an excuse to repost this fun anecdote about Juan Peron:

The story is told that Perón, in his days of glory,
once proposed to induct a nephew in the mysteries of politics. He first brought
the young man with him when he received a deputation of communists; after
hearing their views, he told them, “You’re quite right.” The next day he
received a deputation of fascists and replied again to their arguments, “You’re
quite right.” Then he asked his nephew what he thought and the young man said,
“You’ve spoken with two groups with diametrically opposite opinions and you
told them both that you agreed with them. This is completely unacceptable.”
Perón replied, “You’re quite right too.”

And that sounds too much
like Francis, does it not?Perhaps
that explains much of the denial about him.His defenders hear just enough affirmation of their views
from him to keep defending him – no matter what else he says or does not say to
others.

I will point out that this ignorance is surely one reason for the revival of totalitarianism amongst Millennials.That those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it is a partial truth and something of a cliché, but there is truth to it.

That is surely one reason the Bible tells so much of the evils of so many, even of heroes, and of the consequences of said evils.When we are tempted to foolish sin, it helps to have a learned reminder not to be like past sinners.

To be more specific, when a young man is tempted to put on an arm band and raise his arm against Constitutional rights and to viciously attack and slander opponents and attempt to disarm and silence them, it helps for his education to whisper in his ear, “Hey bud, that would be acting a bit too much like a Nazi, don’tcha think?”When youth are instead ignorant of the basics of historic totalitarianism, we are more likely to get . . .well, to get David Hogg.

And given the bias towards the Left in public and secondary education, ignorance of Communism and its atrocities must surely be even greater, likely much greater.So the little Communists running amuck are blissfully unaware that they are acting a bit too much like the 20th Century Communists who murdered tens upon tens of millions.I see how some of the youth act and am reminded of the Cultural Revolution.Meanwhile most of them have no idea what the Cultural Revolution was, thanks to their failed education. . . .Or maybe their education was intended to create Leftists with little memory of Leftist atrocities and little respect for democratic values.

So, yes, I have little doubt that ignorance of 20th Century totalitarianism is assisting a revival of totalitarianism in the 21st. Poor education and ignorance has consequences.

Friday, April 13, 2018

First, my apologies that
this post will be somewhat stream of consciousness.But something has been on my mind, and it’s important enough that I should not be silent about it.Holocaust Remembrance Day yesterday has
goaded me to say something even if my thoughts are not that well organized yet.

Yesterday is a reminder of
how deadly totalitarianism is.The
totalitarian mindset cares not a wit for the freedom and lives of political
opponents and of others who are hated for other reasons, such as class,
religion, and ethnicity.Totalitarianism is why the 20th Century was such a deadly
one.And do not forgot that the
Communist brand of totalitarianism killed tens of millions more than Hitler’s
did.Of course, thankfully,
Hitler’s time was shorter.

Another lesson of the 20th
Century is that often it is hard to see just how dangerous times are when you
are in the middle of them.As a
child, I wondered why all the Jews did not flee what was to come.Well, although they knew times were not
good, most did not know the horrors to come although there was much
warning.Us humans are prone to
denial of coming horrors until it is too late.

I understand that denial
more now.I see the totalitarian
mindset on the march today in the conduct of the Left and of the Deep State, of
their contempt for freedom of speech, for freedom of religion, and of democracy
in general. I also see it in the vilification of others under the guise of
“White Privilege” and now and soon “Christian Privilege.” I do not know what
scares me more, the little totalitarians taking over college campuses or the
conduct of Mueller and Company in attempting to overturn a presidential
election.Their method of
practically inventing the crimes of political opponents reminds me of the old
Soviet Union and of today’s Russian under Putin.Instead of investigating a crime and finding the man behind
it, they investigate the man and search for or invent a supposed crime to bring
him down.The raid of Trump’s
lawyer’s offices has made that modus
operandi that much more clear.

And yet part of me thinks
this too will pass.But I don’t
know whether that part is realistic or in denial.

Under totalitarianism, the
people are not allowed to choose their leaders (except for the correct “The
People,” of course).And it seems electing
Trump was not permissible and must be overturned.I’ve said it before and will say it again, the Left and
others with a totalitarian mindset only respect democracy when they win.And very early on, I smelled an attempted coup against Trump, and that attempted coup continues.

I know I may seem
overwrought.I know that
totalitarianism in the U. S. may seem a conspiratorial fever dream.But how many saw the coming ravages of
Nazism and Communism before it was too late?For that matter, how many ten or twenty years ago foresaw
how mad the college campuses have become?And with the attacks on free speech and on Constitutional and democratic
values in general, I see warning signs too similar to warning signs of
totalitarianism in the past.More
and more, I feel like I am living in a pre-totalitarian time and place.I certainly understand more what so
many Europeans experienced in the 20th Century.

Yes, I told you this would
be somewhat stream of consciousness.Anyway, you may have noticed this blog has become less political and I
hope I can keep it that way.I’ve
seen how politics can divide in the Anglican Church in North America and have
been thinking I, too, should become more selective and careful in discussing
politics in an Anglican context. I
do want this blog to inform and edify, not drive away.

But what I, and others, see
happening in America and in the West will very much affect the church and us
all if the current direction of politics and culture goes unchecked.So I may address the revival of
totalitarian and of the totalitarian mindset from time to time as unpleasant as
the subject may be.

Friday, April 06, 2018

If an interview with Cardinal Burke is an indicator – and let’s hope it is – many in the Roman
Catholic Church are through with tolerating the enormities of the current
Bishop of Rome and his Vatican tools after Francis denied (or not) the existence
of Hell.Cardinal Burke is more vocal about that than most (Emphasis mine.):

What happened with the last interview given to
Eugenio Scalfari during Holy Week and published on Holy Thursday went
beyond what is tolerable. That a well-known atheist could pretend to announce a
revolution in the teaching of the Catholic Church, claiming to speak in the
name of the Pope, denying the immortality of the human soul and the existence
of Hell, was a source of profound scandal, not only for Catholics but also for
many others who respect the Catholic Church and her teachings, even if they do
not agree with them. Furthermore, Holy Thursday is one of the most
sacred days of the year, the day on which Our Lord instituted the Blessed
Sacrament of the Eucharist and also the Priesthood, so that He could always
offer us the fruit of His redemptive Passion and Death for our eternal
salvation. The response of the Holy See to the scandalized reactions which came
in from all over the world was also greatly inadequate. Instead of clearly
restating the truth about the immortality of the human soul and Hell, the Holy
See’s statement said only that some of the quoted words were not those of the
Pope. It did not say that the erroneous, even heretical, ideas expressed by
these words are not shared by the Pope and that the Pope repudiates these
ideas, which are contrary to the Catholic faith. This game-playing with the
faith and doctrine, at the highest level of the Church, leaves pastors and the
faithful feeling scandalized, and rightly so.

Again, these are the words
of a prominent Cardinal of the R.C. Church.He goes after many of his fellow prelates as well:

Certainly the situation is only made worse
by the silence of many bishops and cardinals who share with the Roman Pontiff a
solicitude for the universal Church. Some simply say nothing. Others pretend
that there is nothing serious going on. Still others spread fantasies of a “new
Church”, a Church which takes a totally different direction from the past,
fantasizing, for example, about a “new paradigm” for the Church or about a
radical conversion of the pastoral praxis of the Church, making it completely
new. Then there are those who are enthusiastic promoters of the so-called
revolution of the Catholic Church. For the faithful who understand the gravity
of the situation, the lack of doctrinal and disciplinary direction on the part
of their pastors leaves them feeling lost. For the faithful who do not
understand the gravity of the situation, this lack of direction leaves them in
confusion and eventually victims of errors which endanger their souls.

What I posted earlier this week is in line with this – how a church deals with bad bishops is of the
highest importance.And the Roman
Catholic Church seems to be failing at that.Sadly, the courage of Cardinal Burke in confronting Francis
and his cohort is likely more the exception than the rule.For the sake of the Faith, let us pray
that is changing and quickly.

Thursday, April 05, 2018

I got an e-mail yesterday
promoting a new movie, “Pope Francis – A Man of His Word”.Yes, I did wonder if this was a joke or
satire.How many times has the
Vatican had to walk back his words?And we still don’t really know whether he believes in Hell or not.

Should we now expect a
sequel, “Katharine Jefferts Schori – A Compassionate Woman of Orthodoxy”?

But see the promotional
material for yourself. Here’s the
e-mail.

I love it that the main
review is from . . . the Vatican.
Well, I hope they like the movie; they co-produced it:

A rare co-production with the Vatican, the pope’s
ideas and his message are central to this documentary, which sets out to
present his work of reform and his answers to today’s global questions from
death, social justice, immigration, ecology, wealth
inequality, materialism, and the role of the family.

Hmm, so the movie covers “social
justice, immigration, ecology [and] wealth inequality.” Is this about a pope or a Socialist
Party chairman?

Wednesday, April 04, 2018

The latest episode of Pope Francis spouting heresy . . . or not – who am I to judge?Anyway, the latest episode of Francis
being Francis has me reflecting on the importance of a church being able and
willing to deal effectively with bad bishops.

Yes, that is important. I remember in my young days when I
didn’t know an Anglican from a right angle that I did know enough that the
Episcopal Church was a no-go denomination for me.Why?“Bishop”
Spong and TEC’s tolerance of him.Spong
drove the orthodox out of his diocese, and no telling how many he drove out of
or repelled from The Episcopal Church.I am not saying he was vindictive towards the orthodox. He might have
been gracious to them for all I know.But a bishop spouting heresy without being disciplined sends a strong
message to the orthodox to leave or stay away.

Further, the leaven of bad
bishops spreads throughout a church.That is all the more true for a Pope who makes numerous appointments
worldwide.And many of Pope Francis’
appointments have been awful. But
even the mere presence of an apparently or openly apostate bishop sends the
message that apostasy is okay.It
invites more apostasy.And the
enormities of the Romans have certainly become more evident under Francis.

To avoid these and other
ways bad bishops harm a church, a healthy church must be able and willing to
depose them or at least demote them to positions where they can do little harm.And, yes, it is time for Pope Francis
to be sent off into the sunset – nicely, of course – but sent off before he
does more damage.

That may sound like wishful
thinking, and it probably is.But
the Vatican Mafia managed to send off perhaps the best Pope of my
lifetime.So why not be done with
Francis?

The answer to that question
may be that the Roman Catholic Church is not a healthy church; worse, that the
wolves are in control of it.Most
of us are all too familiar with churches that suppress good bishops and promote
bad ones and what eventually becomes of such jurisdictions.

Yes, churches can survive
bad bishops – 10th Century Rome had some real winners as Popes – but
the downward spiral of The Episcopal Church illustrates that one should not so
presume on the grace of God.Bad
bishops must be made demoted bishops or ex-bishops.

Closer to home, are there
bad bishops in the Anglican Church in North America that need to be dealt with?

Monday, April 02, 2018

The apostles saw Christ, but were not yet members of
His body. We are members of His
body, but do not yet see Him. These
two things, which are now separated, are to be united in the other world and,
being united, they will make us happy forever.

--John Keble, from “The Sight
of God Incarnate”, a sermon preached on an Easter Sunday. (Volume 6, sermon 12
of his collected sermons)

What a great hope indeed!And may this Easter season, with the
hope that comes from the Resurrection of Christ and of his people, be a joyous
one for all my readers.